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Article Title: Wallace Cadet Taylor, The Last U S Volunteers

Full Citation: Thomas D Thiessen, "Wallace Cadet Taylor, The Last US Volunteers," Nebraska History 87 (2006):

28-43.

URL of article: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH2006WallaceTaylor.pdf

Date: 3/28/2012

Article Summary: This is the story of the military career of a little-known Nebraska officer, who served in both the

Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars. As such, it is a case study in the evolution of the American

"citizen soldier."

Cataloging Information:

Names: John Mellen Thurston, Wallace Cadet Taylor, John Stotsenburg, Harry Mulford, Elwell Otis, John Scott

Reed, Robert Lee Bullard, Enoch Crowder, John Parker, George T Langhorne, Fitzhugh Lee, Henry W Lawton,

John C Bates, Theodore Schwan, John Scott Reed, James Parker, Graham Cosmas

Place Names: Camp Merritt, San Francisco, California; Manila, Philippines; San Francisco del Monte, Philippines;

Fort Crook, Nebraska; Vancouver Barracks; San Juan Heights, Cuba; Luzon, Philippines; Calamba, Laguna,

Philippines; Batangas, Philippines; Tayabas, Philippines; San Diego Hill, Philippines; Majayjay, Philippines;

Cabuyo, Laguna, Philippines; Upland, California

Keywords: Eighth Corps; Thurston Rifles; Company L, First Nebraska Infantry; USV [United States Volunteers];

SS Senator [transport]; Spanish American War; Philippine-American War; SS Hancock [transport]; Regular Army;

Olympia [transport]; Pennsylvania [transport]; American Expeditionary Force; Thirty-ninth Volunteers; National

Guard; Philippine Constabulary; pulajans; Medal for Valor

Photographs / Images: Major Wallace C Taylor, First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, 1898; Thurston Rifles, April

27, 1898; Camp Merritt, near San Francisco, 1898; Manila photo of Lieutenant C M Richards, Captain W C

Taylor, and Lieutenant J M Tompsett; August 13, 1898 First Nebraska Volunteers advancing through tidewater in

Manila; Men of the First Nebraska come under fire in March 1899 in the Philippines; Dead Filipino insurgents;

American troops carry their wounded back from the front lines, Philippines; Thirty-Ninth US Volunteer Infantry

and Filipino civilians riding small rail cars pulled by a carabao in the Philippines; Three generations of Taylors

about 1916: Wallace Cadet Taylor, his son and his father, Cadet Taylor; 1938 reunion of the US Volunteer Infantry

with names superimposed [Taylor, Frank, Weiss, Roberts, Pageler, Hutton, Lewis, Young, Rountree, Deckert,

Bullard, Haworth, O'Keefe, Morton, Sipple, Gillette, Kleinfeldt, Fuller, Hudkins, Miss Fuller, Long, Blanton,

McKorrel, Thornton]

The military career ofa little-known Nebraska

Officer, who sewed in both the Spanish-American

and Philippine-American wars, is a case study in

the evolution of the American "citizen soldier"

WALLACE CADET TAYLOR w

THE LAST U.S. VOLUNTEERS

28 NEBRASKA history

Maj. Wallace C. Taylor, First Nebraska Volunteer

Infantry, 1898. National Archives and Records

Administration

Below: The Thurston Rifles near their armory at 17thand DouglasStreets, Omaha, on April 27, 1898. Theywere mustered into federal service about ten dayslater as Company Lof the First Nebraska VolunteerInfantry. Capt. Wallace C. Taylor, is the officerstanding third from the left in front of the company.Courtesy Douglas County Historical Society

SPRING 2006 29

Wallace c. taylor's military career as an

officer in both of the last two U.S. Army regimentsto see combat under the title of U.S. Volunteers

illustrates the similarities and differences betweenthe organization, structure, and administration ofthose units, and in addition is a virtual case studyof the rapid evolution of the nation's ready reserve.In the course of two wars, in rapid succession, acollection of fragmented and diverse state militiasand volunteer regiments began to evolve into awell structured, uniformly equipped and trained,federally controlled ready reserve of "citizen-soldiers."

One of the units in which Taylor served was astate regiment raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War; the other was one of the federalU.S. Volunteer regiments formed in 1899 to replace

30 • NEBRASKA history

Camp Merritt, near San Francisco, was the assemblypoint for thousands of Volunteer units federalized1898. The First Nebraska Volunteers were amongthe 275,000 Americans, about 200,000 of themVolunteers, who served during the Spanish War.Photo by J. H. Bratt from Officers and Members ofthe First Nebraska Regiment at Camp Merritt SanFrancisco, San Francisco: Wave Publishing, 1898.

On Feb. 4, 1899, the day the Philippine-AmericanWar began, the officers of Co. L, First NebraskaVolunteer Infantry had their picture taken in Manila.Left to right, Lt. C. M. Richards, Capt. W. C. Taylor, Lt.J. M. Tompsett. A Souvenir...of the Thurston Rifles...in the Philippines, E. F. Test. J. C. Farrish. and I. W.Miner. Omaha, 1899.

the state Volunteers in the Philippines. The tworegiments came into existence under differentcircumstances, were formed in different ways,and had different characteristics, but both served

in the Philippines as part of the Eighth Corps ofthe U.S. Army, later renamed the Division of thePhilippines.

The current deployment—and in some casesrepeated deployments—of thousands of NationalGuard and reserve troops to duty in Afghanistanand Iraq has made the general public unusuallyaware of the role of volunteers in the military, butcitizen-soldiers are a long-standing tradition in theUnited States. Militia, Volunteers, and NationalGuardsmen have augmented the Regular Armyinnearly every national conflict since Revolutionarytimes. During large-scale conflicts, including theMexican War and the Civil War, as well as theSpanish-American and Philippine-American wars,citizen-soldiers were mustered into federal service

as United States Volunteers.

In the second half of the nineteenth century,however, at a time when European armies weredeveloping large bodies of trained men to serveas inactive reserves, the U.S. Army remained smalland did not maintain a reserve pool of trainedmanpower. Although a number of promoters ofarmy reform advocated the reserve model, the

army chose instead to rely on the National Guardas the nation's first line of defense for augmentingthe standing army in times of war. Then composedof fragmented, state-controlled volunteer regiments,the Guard lacked a unified national organization.

Wallace Cadet Taylor's career began in 1893when, at age twenty-one, he enlisted as a privatein an Omaha militia company called the ThurstonRifles. Named for John Mellen Thurston, a U.S.

Senator from Nebraska, it became one of two

National Guard companies in Omaha (the otherwas the Omaha Guards).

In December 1897 Taylor was appointedcaptain of the Thurston Rifles. Only four monthslater, in April 1898, the United States and Spainissued mutual declarations of war, and most Guard

units in the nation, including those in Omaha,were federalized.

Wallace Cadet Taylor was born May 26, 1872,in the small, north-central Illinois town of Wenona.

His father was Cadet Taylor, the local postmaster,and his mother was Emma Lucinda Barker.

Wallace started school in Washington, D.C., wherehis father served as chief clerk of the Government

Printing Office for several years in the 1880s. Hegraduated from high school in Omaha where thefamily had moved in the late 1880s. After graduation in 1891, he worked as a clerk or bookkeeperand, in 1893, when the company was formed,enlisted in the Thurston Rifles.1

When the United States declared war in 1898

its Army was minuscule. It was about to send onlyabout 25,000 officers and men to face a Spanishforce of approximately 200.000 men in Cuba alone.2To enlarge the Army,state governors, congressmen, and National Guardsmen lobbied fiercely forthe National Guard regiments to be federalized asU.S. Volunteers.

On April 23 the President issued a call for125.000 men to augment the Regular Army and toserve as Volunteers for the duration of the war, or

a period of two years.:i This manpower need wasto be met by federalizing en masse most of theexisting National Guard units in accordance witha quota levied on individual states. About a monthlater another call for 75,000 more men was issued.'

Ultimately, more than 275,000 Americans servedunder arms during the Spanish War. About 200.000of them were Volunteers, most, like Wallace Taylor,federalized National Guardsmen. The creation of

WHEN THE UNITED STATES

DELCARED WAR IN 1898

ITS ARMY WAS MINUSCULE.

such a large Volunteer force on short notice posedenormous problems for equipping, supplying,and provisioning the greatly expanded army by amilitary establishment accustomed to dealing withquartermaster, ordnance, and commissaiy affairson a much smaller scale.'

Nevertheless, men flocked enthusiastically tothe colors. On April 19. before the President's firstcall for men, Captain Taylor of Omaha's ThurstonRifles wrote to the Adjutant General of theNebraska National Guard to offer the services of

his company "to go wherever ordered and forwhatever length of time.",; Before the AdjutantGeneral could act on Taylor's offer, the regimentwas federalized, and in early May, they arrived inLincoln. On May 9 he was mustered into federalservice as captain of Company L of the FirstNebraska Infantry, United States Volunteers.

Like most officers in the federalized state

Volunteer regiments, Wallace Taylor had beencommissioned by the Governor of his state, notthrough a competitive examination to determinefitness for command. Consequently, the stateVolunteers, even though mustered into federal

Thomas D. Thiessen is

recently retired from the

National Park Service's

Midwest Archeological

Center. Lincoln, Nebraska.

He is the author of. or a

contributor to many

publications in archeology,

ethnohistory. and military

history.

SPRING 2006 • 31

Troops from the FirstNebraska Volunteersadvance through the tidewater at the capitulationof Manila on August 13,1898, ending hostilitieswith Spain. Capt. WallaceTaylor's Company Lwassaid to be the first to enterthe city, but the claimcannot be verified. NSHSRG3512-2-19

service and under federal command, wereultimately responsible to state authorities. Thiswas one of the important differences between thestate Volunteers and the later federal Volunteers,which were fully under the authority of the WarDepartment.

The state Volunteer regiments were largelycomposed of men from their respective states,and each company was typically recruited from asingle community. This strong local character wasreflected in the Nebraska regiment. Of the 137officers and men of Company L of the FirstNebraska during its period of federal service,only 12were not Omaha residents, and only 3were from outside Nebraska.7

In that sense the National Guard of 1898 was not

truly national in character. As military historianshave pointed out, the state Guard organizationswere actually forty-five separate state armies, differently trained and equipped, and responsible totheir respective state governments.8 The Volunteerregiments formed in the latter part of 1899, incontrast, were recruited from large regions of thenation and lacked this marked state and local

character.'1

The First Nebraska Volunteers were part of alarge force assembled in May and June at SanFrancisco to invade the Philippine Islands. CaptainTaylor and the men of Company L traveled by trainwith their regiment, arriving at Camp Merritt, the

32 - NEBRASKA history

assembly point at San Francisco, on May 19 and20, 1898. Aftera month or so at Camp Merritt, theNebraska regiment embarked with the secondexpedition of U.S. troops bound for thePhilippines, and reached Manila on July 17 onboard the transport S.S. Senator?"

The First Nebraska participated in the brieffighting before Manila in July and August and inthe assault on and capitulation of the city onAugust 13, which ended hostilities with Spanishforces in the Philippines. At the fall of Manila,Captain Taylor's company was said to be the firstAmerican company to enter the city, though thisclaim cannot be verified and it is likely thatsimilar claims have been advanced on behalf of

companies from other regiments."

Throughout the fall of 1898, the regimentremained in and near Manila as part of the American occupation force. In December, the FirstNebraska went into camp at a place called SantaMesa, outside Manila. Captain Taylor was assignedduty as a battalion commander at Camp SantaMesa, an increase in the scope and responsibilityof his command, although the assignment wasonly temporary.12

Although hostilities with Spain had ceased, theVolunteers remained in the Philippines, awaitingratification of the peace treaty with Spain onFebruary 6, 1899. Two days before that date, however, another war erupted in the Philippines,

which kept them there even longer. The uprisingof Filipino nationalists, who sought independenceand self-rule, was viewed by the Americans as an"insurrection" against American authority, eventhough American authority scarcely extendedbeyond the immediate environs of Manila.

During the fall and winter of 1898 and 1899tensions between Americans and Filipinos hadincreased, and armed conflict was expectedimminently. The breaking point occurred theevening of February 4, when a Nebraska sentryfired on several Filipino soldiers who respondedmockingly to a challenge. Within minutes the firinghad spread all along the American line encirclingManila, and the Philippine-American War, its firstshots fired by the First Nebraska Infantry, UnitedStates Volunteers, had started.1:i

During the remainder of that night and the nextday, American and Filipino fighters exchangedfire. Captain Taylor's gallant behavior during theconflict earned him the recommendation of his

regimental commander for a promotion to therank of brevet major. It was the first of severalrecommended rewards for gallantry in action thathe received during service with U.S. Volunteerregiments."

Captain Taylor repeatedly stood out from hisfellow company commanders in the First Nebraskafor his exceptional leadership, energy, and per-

Men of the First Nebraskamake use of whatevercover they can find asthey come under fire fromFilipino soldiers in March1899. The "insurrection"against American authority began even before thepeace treaty with Spainwas signed. It was led bynationalists seeking independence and self rule.NSHSRG3512-2-7

sonal bravery during theearly months of the Phil-ppine-American War. On

25, 1899, while

g his men in aarge that ended in

-to-hand combat

inst an entrenched

ino position at SanFrancisco del Monte,

Taylor was wounded inthe right forearm. Nineother Nebraska men also

were wounded.15 For

most of April and May—and the remainder of theFirst Nebraska's active campaigning in the Philippines—Taylor was confined to the First ReserveHospital in Manila or to his quarters, recuperatingfrom his wound and from malaria."'

On April 23 the regimental commander, Col.John Stotsenburg, was killed in action. One of thebattalion commanders, Maj. Harry Mulford, waspromoted to the rank of colonel to replaceStotsenburg, and on April 28 Wallace Taylor waspromoted to the rank of major of Volunteers.17

He did not see active campaigning after thatpromotion, however. A major U.S. offensive simplyran out of steam after reaching the town of SanFernando in mid-May, with more than half of theAmerican force exhausted and ill. The Nebraska

regiment was down to about three hundred men,about one-third of its strength at the outbreak ofwar with the Filipinos four months earlier.18 Theexhausted Nebraskans were recalled to Manila on

May 20, while Taylor was still recuperating frommalaria, and spent the next month doing light dutyin and around the capital city.

While in the hospital Major Taylor received anorder from Maj. Gen. Elwell Otis, commander ofthe Eighth Corps, to report for examination for therank of second lieutenant in the Regular Army. Theopportunity had come through Senator Thurston atthe request of Taylor's father in Omaha.19 Taylor

SPRING 2006 • 33

THE REGULAR ARMY WAS STILL

RECOVERING FROM THE

DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF

COMBAT AND DISEASE.

Dead Filipino insurgents lie wherethey fell (right, NSHS RG3512-3-6)and American troops carry theirwounded back from the front

lines (below, NSHS RG3512-6-10).

respectfully declined on the grounds that he hadno foreknowledge of the exam and did not wish tohold an appointment in the Regular Army.2"

He returned to the States with his men on board

the transport S.S. Hancock and was dischargedwith the rest of the Nebraska regiment at SanFrancisco on August 23, 1899. But Wallace Taylorwas soon to return to the Philippines as a memberof another regiment of U.S. Volunteers.

With the ratification of the treaty between Spainand the United States on April 11, 1899, peacewas formally at hand and the Volunteers in thePhilippines were entitled to discharge, but with thewar against the Filipino nationalists in progress,and because few Regular Army soldiers wereavailable to replace them, they were kept inservice. The Regular Army was still recoveringfrom the devastating effects of combat and diseaseexperienced in the Caribbean theater of theSpanish-American War, and from the dischargeof experienced soldiers at the conclusion of thatconflict.-'1

Political pressure from state governors andcongressmen for the Volunteers' return homemounted during the winter of 1898and 1899, andresulted in passage of the Army Bill on March 2.22A key provision of that law was the creation of atemporary force of 35,000 U.S. Volunteers to

34 • NEBRASKA history

replace the state Volunteers then serving in thePhilippines. Specifically, the law authorized thecreation of twenty-four new regiments of infantryand one of cavalry for a term not to exceed twoyears.21

The first of the newly authorized regimentsbegan to organize in June 1899.-'The law alsoauthorized the Regular Army a temporary increaseto 65,000 men. While the Regular forces were beingaugmented and trained, however, the new Volunteer regiments would replace state Volunteers inthe Philippines and would constitute the bulk ofU.S. military forces there.

The federal Volunteer regiments were formedduring summer and fall 1899. Unlike the earlierstate Volunteer regiments the new Volunteers wereresponsible to the federal government, not to thestate governments. The officers and most of theenlisted men of the new regiments were experienced former soldiers from the Regular Army andthe state Volunteer regiments. Most field-gradeofficers, who commanded the regiments andbattalions, had held Regular Army commissionsor brevet Volunteer field-grade rank during theSpanish-American War. Ambitious professionalofficers, many later achieved high rank in the

American Expeditionaiy Force during World War I.Most company-grade officers had previously

served as officers or non-commissioned officers

in the state Volunteer regiments. An estimated 30percent or more of the U.S. Volunteers had seenservice as state Volunteers, and most new Volunteer

companies included some ex-Regular Army menas well.2"' Recruits had to be from eighteen to thirty-five years old, be able to speak English, be no lessthan five feet four inches tall, weigh from 120 to 190pounds, be of good character, able-bodied, andfree from disease.21' In short, compared to theearlier state Volunteers, many of them federalizeden masse from pre-existing National Guard units,the new Volunteer companies were a highly selectbodies of men.

The new Volunteer regiments were a temporary

expedient while the Regular Army was reorganizingand expanding to a size sufficient to garrisonAmerica's new overseas possessions. Scheduled tobe disbanded by July 1, 1901, they would exist onlyfor two years or less. No provision was made toreplace combat or disease casualties. A depletedregiment would remain depleted until it wasdisbanded.

The government offered a $500 bounty to induce

5fcS& 5*fci•••'-,.• •' •'"c-;-1

SPRING 2006 • 35

Soldiers of the Thirty-NinthU.S. Volunteer Infantry andFilipino civilians riding astring of small rail carspulled by a carabao inCalamba, Laguna Province, Philippine Islands.The Thirty Ninth wasrecruited primarily fromformer state Volunteers in

a ten-state region including Nebraska. WallaceTaylor became a captainin the regiment. CourtesyU.S. Army Military History In-stitute

veterans of the state Volunteers to stay in thePhilippines and re-enlist in the new Volunteerregiments, but relatively few men took the bait;after nearly a year of arduous service in the tropicalenvironment of the Philippine Islands, most wereanxious to return home.27

John Scott Reed, in an insightful dissertationabout the U.S. Volunteers in the Philippines, pointsout that the Volunteer regiments raised in 1899were largely filled with men who had been twicetrained, first in the Regular Army or the stateVolunteers during the Spanish-American War, thenas replacement Volunteers. The new regimentsreceived, on average, seventy days of training.28

When they arrived in the Philippines they werecombat-ready, in contrast to the earlier stateVolunteers who were less prepared for the rigors

of campaigning.21'A week after his discharge from the First

Nebraska regiment, Wallace Taylor was appointeda captain in the Thirty-Ninth U.S. Volunteer Infantryregiment then being recruited in ten states rangingfrom Alabama and Pennsylvania through theupper Midwest to Washington state.30 Two battalions were assembled and trained at Fort Crook

near Omaha, and a third was assembled at

Vancouver Barracks in Washington.111The regimental commander was Colonel of

Volunteers Robert Lee Bullard. With a permanentrank of captain in the Subsistence Department ofthe Regular Army, Bullard was the most junior

36 « NEBRASKA history

officer selected to command any of the twenty-fivenew Volunteer regiments.32As commander of theThirty-ninth he proved to be an aggressive andcapable officer. As in the other Volunteer regimentsmost officers of the Thirty-ninth Volunteers hadprevious military experience. Among the fiftyofficers were thirteen former RegularArmy officers;twenty-two were former officers in state Volunteer

regiments: six were former non-commissioned officers from the Regular Army; four were formernoncoms, and two were enlisted men from the

former state Volunteers; one was a U.S. MilitaryAcademy cadet with no previous militaryservice;and one was former National Guard officer who

had no previous Volunteerexperience. Apparently onlyone officer lacked previousmilitary experience beforejoining the Thirty-ninth.33

After a brief leave to

attend to personal mattersand some recruiting serviceat Omaha, Captain Taylorjoined the regiment at FortCrook on September 28,1899.31 He was assigned tocommand Company F. andwas once again assignedtemporary battalioncommand responsibility.From September 30 to January 3, 1900, he commandedthe battalion assembled at

Vancouver Barracks.35 The

regiment left Portland,Oregon, in November onboard the transports

Olympia and Pennsylvania, and arrived at Manilaon December 7.36

Some of Captain Taylor's fellow officers andenlisted men in the Thirty-ninth are of note.37His regimental commander, Robert Lee Bullardrose to lieutenant general during World War I andwas appointed commander of the Second Armyof the American Expeditionary Force, a body of180,000 men.38The Thirty-ninth's lieutenantcolonel was Enoch Crowder, who oversaw the

national draft during World War I and is regardedas the father of the Selective Service System.39

One of the three battalion commanders was

fellow Omahan Maj. Harry Mulford, who hadsucceeded Stotsenburg as commander of the FirstNebraska. Another battalion commander was Maj.John Parker, a Regular Army first lieutenant who

had commanded a battery of Gatling guns at theSan Juan Heights in Cuba in 1898and was nicknamed "Machine Gun" Parker. Another battalioncommander, Taylor's immediate superior, wasMaj. GeorgeT. Langhorne, an aristocratic Virginiacavalryofficerwho had been military attache atthe U.S. embassy in Belgium. One of the lieutenants was the son of former Confederate generaland later U.S. diplomat Fitzhugh Lee, and theregimenteven included a Missourian named JesseJames, who was a relative of the famous "borderruffian" and outlaw.'10

The Thirty-ninth was attached to the First Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Henry W. Lawtonand, after Lawton's death in combat, by Maj. Gen.John C. Bates." Throughout its Philippine servicethe regiment operated on Luzon, the largest islandof the Philippine archipelago. Through a series ofvigorous attacks during the first three days of January 1900, the Thirty-ninth U.S. Volunteers relieveda beleaguered Twenty-first U.S. Infantry garrison atthe town of Calamba in Laguna province.12

Plans were afoot for two American columns to

undertake a coordinated offensive through thesouthern provinces of Luzon, Batangas, andTayabas, but the Thirty-ninth was not included inthe operation plan. On his own initiative and without specific orders, however, Colonel Bullardenergetically occupied several towns in the pathof one of the offensive columns, commanded byBrig. Gen. Theodore Schwan. General Schwan wasnot pleased to see Bullard's potentially meddlesome activities interfere with his plannedoperations, and on January 15 he ordered thecolonel to return to Santo Tomas with one battalion

of the Thirty-ninth and maintain communicationbetween Schwan's column and Calamba, essentially static garrison duty. Schwan added the othertwo battalions of the Thirty-ninth, including CaptainTaylor's company, to his offensive column. Taylorparticularly distinguished himself in two of theactions that followed.13

On January 21, 1900, at San Diego Hill, stronglyheld Filipino entrenchments held up the advanceof the leading elements of Schwan's column.Schwan ordered a frontal attack on the Filipinoposition, but before it could be carried out CaptainTaylor with only a few men flanked the entrenchment and routed the Filipino defenders. In a letterwritten to Cadet Taylor, Colonel Bullard reportedMajor Langhorne's observation that "the enemy'sfire suddenly ceased, and, greatly to his astonishment, he saw an American stand up on a parapetof the enemy's works and wave his hat. Il was

Three generations of Taylors in 1916 or 1917: WallaceCadet Taylor (left) his son, and his father, CadetTaylor. Following his retirement from the ConstabularyTaylor moved to Upland, California, and became acitrus grower. Courtesy Kay Taylor Pugh

Captain W.C. Taylor, who had with less thantwenty men found a way around the flank anddriven off, by surprise and superb courage, a largeforce, at least 400 men, who had held their groundtwo hours before a whole brigade under anartillery fire at that.""

Taylor distinguished himself again the followingday at the town of Majayjay, which was reported tobe defended by strong entrenchments and 1,500to 3,000 determined defenders. The entrenchments

controlled all movement on a narrow road leadinginto the town and overlooked a deep, rockygorge with nearly perpendicular sides. Some ofLanghorne's men, including Taylor, were loweredby ropes to the bottom of the gorge to reconnoiter.Spotted by the Filipinos, they exchanged fire withthem and then rejoined the column leavingCaptain Taylor and a corporal behind.

spring 2006 • 37

WITH THE FRIGHTENED CORPORAL QUAKING

IN HIS BOOTS BEHIND HIM, TAYLOR SCALED THE GORGE

AND SLIPPED INTO THE FORTIFICATION.

Observing the Filipino position through a telescope, Taylor concluded that the defenders hadabandoned the entrenchment, and with the frightened corporal quaking in his boots behind him,scaled the gorge and slipped into the fortification,finding it and the town abandoned. The defendershad fled when they learned that two companies ofthe Thirty-ninth were scaling the gorge. When thetroops arrived, it is said that they found CaptainTaylorsitting on the church steps enjoying acigar.45

On the basis of Taylor's "conspicuous braveryand gallantry" in the action at San Diego Hill andhis "great personal bravery" in reconnoitering thestronghold of Majayjay, Major Langhorne in April1900 recommended Taylor for a promotion tobrevet lieutenant colonel of Volunteers. Langhornerestated the recommendation in September 1900,and added a recommendation that Taylor also beawarded the Medal of Honor. Colonel Bullard

endorsed both recommendations, but, for reasons

unknown, Captain Taylor never received eithercitation.46

This was not the only time Taylor was recommended for a brevet promotion while with theThirty-ninth Volunteers. Writing to a friend inOmaha, Bullard reported that Taylor was againrecommended for a brevet lieutenant colonelcyfor gallantry in action near Bay in Batangasprovince on March 10,1900, where he "ambushedan ambush."47

Following General Schwan's expedition, command of the full Thirty-ninth Volunteer Infantrywas restored to Bullard. The regiment garrisonedat Calambra, Los Baiios, San Pablo, and othertowns in the south of Luzon island, an area whereresistance to American rule was especially tenacious and prolonged.48 The regiment's pacificationduties were not limited to fighting and patrolling,but, like other American forces in the Philippines,the Nebraskans were also engaged in civic affairswork such as garrisoning and protection of towns,building schools, supervising road and bridgeconstruction, building intelligence networks, overseeing elections of officials and local governments,dispensing justice through provost courts, andpromoting public health.49

During its fifteen months service in the

38 • NEBRASKA history

Philippines theThirty-ninth Volunteer Infantryfought in eighty-four engagements. Half theregiment was lost to death, injury, and illness,and these losses were not replaced.50

The Thirty-ninth had the reputation of being a"sick" regiment, having suffered 113disease deaths,40 more than any other Volunteerregiment.51 TheThirty-ninth also lost 11 men killed in action ordied from wounds and sustained 31 wounded.Morethan 700men were discharged for disabilityand other reasons. The Thirty-ninth became sodepleted and exhausted by October 1900that itwas shifted to a healthier area, the southwesterncoast of Batangas province, where operationswere less arduous.52

Generally, the U.S. Volunteers in the Philippinesstayed healthier than their comrades had beenduring the Spanish-American War, because theArmy had improved hygiene, health conditions,and medical services. The Thirty-ninth Volunteershad many fewer desertions than average, and thesecond lowest total of general courts-martial in theVolunteer force, attesting to the excellent state ofdiscipline within the regiment.53

During his service with the Thirty-ninth Volunteers, Taylor participated with distinction inengagements at Calamba and Cabuyo, Lagunaprovince, January 1, 1900; Binang, Lagunaprovince, January 2, 1900;Santo Tomas, Batangasprovince, January 9, 1900;San Diego Hill, Lagunaprovince, January 21, 1900;and at Bay, Lagunaprovince, March 10, 1900. He also commanded thedistrict of Los Bahos, Laguna, from February 14 toMay 24, 1900, and July 24 to August 9,1900, andwas stationed at San Pablo, Laguna, from Marchthrough June 1900. He again commanded abattalion of the Thirty-ninth, from October 27 toDecember 3,1900. His final assignment with theThirty-ninth was detached service at Manila wherehe served as boarding officer at the CustomsHouse from January 19, 1901, to the muster-out ofthe regiment.54

The Thirty-ninth U.S. Volunteer Infantry leftManila on March 16, 1901, and mustered out offederal service at San Francisco on May 6.55 Capt.Wallace Taylor did not return to the States with theregiment, however. In June he chose to remain inthe Philippines and open a new, and in many

wayseven more interesting, chapter of his lifeandservice to his nation summarized in the epilogue

below.

The U.S. Volunteers who served in the

Philippines in 1899through early 1901—state andfederal Volunteers alike—bore the brunt of the

conflict with Filipino nationalists in both conventional and guerilla forms of warfare. The stateVolunteer regiments engaged their Filipino adversaries in conventional set-piece battles and werehighly successful.™ The federal Volunteers who

replaced them saw the conflict change fromconventional warfare between opposing formations of soldiers to guerilla warfare of ambush andintimidation of the civilian population. Theyeffectively adopted counterinsurgency tactics thatultimately led to the pacification of much of thePhilippines by mid-1901 when the replacementVolunteer regiments were disbanded and theremaining pacification task fell to a reconstitutedand expanded Regular Army, the PhilippineScouts, and the newly formed PhilippineConstabulary.

John Scott Reed attributes the success of theVolunteers in the Philippinesto factors includingeffective small-unit offensive tactics combined

with martial law coercion of civilian populationsto discourage support for resistance; quickadaptation to the tropical environment and development of appropriate tactics for the terrain;

containment of the effects of the disease threat to

American troops; and superior discipline in theface of physical hardships and in their treatment ofFilipino civilians. He also cites "aggressive patrolling,good intelligence, organizational flexibility,and sheer physical durability.""'7

Lt. Col. James Parker, a Regular Army officerwho served with both Regular Army and U.S.Volunteer units during the Philippine-AmericanWar, judged the Volunteers to be superior soldiersto both their state Volunteer and Regular corn-

rades: "These regiments were far superior to theNational Guard regiments which preceded them...These men had the individual intelligenceand independence of citizen soldiers and soon acquiredthe discipline of regulars. The raising and organization of these regiments was one of the wisest andmost successful acts of the Government. Theseregiments, in my opinion, were in 1900 moreefficient than the regular regiments.""*

The Volunteers of both 1898 and 1899 werehighly motivated and imbued with a strongsenseof duty to their country, enthusiasm for an adventurous life, and remarkable personal courage andphysicaldurability.5" Without the high qualityofthe Volunteer soldiers, Reed maintains, thePhilippine-American Warwould have been foughtwith "less well trained troops, fewer districts wouldhave been pacified in the winter of 1900-01, andthe harsh [punitive] measures [used by the

A 1938 reunion of the

Thirty-ninth U.S. VolunteerInfantry. Col. Wallace C.Taylor is standing at thefar left. Courtesy U.S. ArmyMilitary History Institute

SPRING 2006 • 39

Wallace Cadet Taylor inthe uniform of the PhilippineConstabulary, a nationalpolice force formed tosuppress insurrection andbanditry in the Islands. Taylor joined the Constabularyin 1901 after leaving theThirty-Ninth Volunteers andagain distinguished himselfin action. He retired in 1916.Courtesy Kay Taylor Pugh

Regulars] of 1902 [in certain places in the Islands]would have been employed on a much widerscale. The war would thus have disrupted more

communities and consumed

more human lives, both Ameri

can and Filipino." And it likelywould have taken more time to

achieve pacification.110The U.S. Volunteers who cam

paigned in the Philippines in1900and 1901 effectively demonstrated the concept of an"expansible force" advocated byproponents of army reform following the Civil War.1'1 Theyrepresented the mobilization ofa pool of trained men duringtimes of national emergency,similar to the reservist system

V employed in several Europeanarmies of the late nineteenth

century. This was essentially thereservist concept, not that of theNational Guard, which was fragmented among the states, ofvariable quality in terms of train

ing and equipment, and was controlled by thestates during peacetime and to a certain degreeduring times of war.

The Army Bill of March 2, 1899,was the result ofmuch debate over Army reform measures duringthe fall and winter of 1898 and into 1899."- A

central issue of this debate was the expansion ofthe army to a size needed to pacify and administerAmerica's new island dependencies, primarily thePhilippine Islands. Although the bill fell short ofthe measures long sought by proponents of armyreforms, it represented a compromise between theadvocates and opponents of reform.

The law required that by July 1, 1901, theVolunteer force of 35,000 men would disband andthe Regular force of 65,000 men would shrink toabout 29,000 officers and men, close to the Army'stotal pre-Spanish War authorized strength of about27,000. Reformers continued to push for organizational changes and expansion of the Army'sstrength that were finally authorized beginningearly in 1901. As historian Graham Cosmas haspointed out, the changes made in 1899presagedmodernization of the U.S. Army, and were followed by a series of important legislated reforms inboth the Army and the National Guard that beganin 1901 and continued to the advent of the First

World War.63

40 • NEBRASKA history

Epilogue

After leaving the Volunteers in 1901 WallaceTaylor stayed in the Philippines. InJuly a civilgovernment replaced the military government,and soon a national police force was formed tosuppress insurrection and banditry and maintainlaw and order. The U.S. Army took a diminishedand lessvisible role in the Americanoccupationof the Philippines, except in certain areas.

Most of the officers of the new police force,called the Philippine Constabulary, were experienced American officers and ex-officers from the

Regular or Volunteer forces. The Constabulary washeaded by a chief and four assistant chiefs, who in1904 were given the ranks of brigadier general andcolonel.64

Wallace Taylor joined the Constabulary in thesummer of 1901 as one of the first assistant chiefs.

He saw much action and achieved a much-envied

reputation as one of the legendary fighting officersof the Constabulary.

HIS MEN FED HIM BY LETTING

THE CONTENTS OF RAW BIRD'S

EGGS SOP DOWN HIS THROAT.

On Samar in 1905, a Constabulary companyled by Colonel Taylor engaged a large body ofsectarian rebels called pulajans. Taylor wasseverely wounded in the jaw, but he refused toleave the field until all the pulajans were repulsed.It was two days before he received medicalattention and a week before he could be treated

in a hospital. In the interim his men fed him byletting the contents of raw birds' eggs sop downhis throat.65His condition was complicated by abroken clavicle suffered in a fall the night after hewas wounded.""

For this action, he received the Constabulary'shighest decoration, the Medal for Valor, whichwas awarded only eighty-one times through 1980,at last receiving some of the recognition that hadlargely eluded him during his service in the U.S.Volunteers."7

For 15years he was one of the most capableand effective officers of the Constabulary. Duringmost of his service he directed operations inthe Visayan Islands in the central part of thearchipelago. He saw much combat, and in 1914served as Acting Chief of the Constabulary.68

Taylor retired from the Philippine Constabularyin 1916 with the rank of colonel. He moved to

Upland, California, where he became a citrusgrower. After multiple applications and manyexaminations, he received a disability pension in1923 for physical problems resulting from hiswounds during Constabulary service. He died onDecember 28,1939.

Notes

1Biographical information from several sources, including abrief biographical sketch published in Frank D. Eager's "Historyof the Operations of the First Nebraska Infantry, U.S.V. in theCampaign in the Philippine Islands," in Campaigning in thePhilippines, by Karl Irving Faust (San Francisco: Hicks-JuddCompany, 1899), 50; a book of personal reminiscencescompiled by Wallace's father, Cadet Taylor, in the possessionof Mrs.KayTaylor Pugh, Dubois, Wyo.; Wallace Cadet Taylor'spension application file (C2417-368) in the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office, Los Angeles, California; and hisdeath certificate on file with the Department of HealthServices, Office of the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, Sacramento, California. Emma Barker was originally from Homer,Illinois (Kay Taylor Pugh, personal communication, June 28,2005). Cadet Taylorserved with the Government PrintingOffice in Washington, D.C.from 1882to 1886(Cadet Taylor,book of personal reminiscences, 35,55-56, 73).

2Graham A. Cosmas, An Army forEmpire: TheUnitedStatesArmyin the Spanish-American War(Columbia: UniversityofMissouri Press, 1971), 5, 76.

3GrahamA.Cosmas, "From Order to Chaos:The WarDepartment, the National Guard, and Military Policy, 1898." MilitaryAffairs 29 (Fall, 1965):118-119;Cosmas,Army forEmpire, 109.

4Cosmas, Orderto Chaos, 120; Cosmas, ArmyforEmpire, 134.

5Cosmas, ArmyforEmpire, 153-165.

6WallaceC.Taylorto AdjutantGeneralP. H. Barry, Apr. 19,1898.Copy courtesy of Robert I. Miller,Omaha, Neb.

7Compiledfrom company rosterspublished in FrankD.Eager'sregimentalhistory ("History of the Operations," 91-92);and in the Biennial Report ofBrigadier General Patrick H. Barry,AdjutantGeneralof Nebraska, 1897and 1898(Lincoln:Woodruff Printing, 1899), 458-465.

8Cosmas, Order to Chaos, 106; Jerry Cooper,The Riseof theNational Guard: TheEvolution of the American Militia, 1865-1920(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997).

9BrianMcAllisterLinn, ThePhilippine War1899-1902(Lawrence: University Pressof Kansas, 2000), 126; John ScottReed, "Burden and Honor: The United States Volunteers in theSouthern Philippines, 1899-1901," Ph.D. diss., University ofSouthern California (Los Angeles, 1994),36.

10 John R.Johnson, "TheSaga of the FirstNebraska in thePhilippines," Nebraska History 30 (June 1949), 139-162;ThomasD.Thiessen,"TheFighting First Nebraska: Nebraska'sImperialAdventurein the Philippines, 1898-1899," Nebraska History 70(Fall 1989), 220.The story of Company Lin the Philippinesduring the Spanish-American Warand the opening months ofthe Philippine-American Waris told in a historyof the companypublished after its return to the United States (E. F.Test, ASouvenir Historical and Illustrated of the Campaign of the"Thurston Rifles Co. L 1st Neb. Regiment United States Volunteersin thePhilippines [Omaha: J.C. Farrish and I.W. Miner], 1899).

11 Eager, "Historyof the Operations," 50.

12Ibid.

13 Linn, Philippine War. Nebraska's part in the new conflict isrelated by John R. Johnson, "Saga of the First Nebraska," 139—162; Donald Chaput, "Private William W. Grayson's War in thePhilippines, \899," Nebraska History6\ (Fall 1980), 355-366;and Thiessen, "Fighting First Nebraska," 235-237.

14 Eager, "History of the Operations," 50.

15 "Captain Taylor shot an insurgent officer, and, grabbing theinsurgent's sword, was in the act of striking another native overthe head when he received a bullet in his arm" (Eager, "Historyof the Operations," 24, 50,92; National Archives and RecordsAdministration (hereafter NARA), military record of Wallace C.Taylor's service with the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry,Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s—1917, RecordGroup 94; Correspondence Relating to the War with Spain 2:945-947 OWashington, D.C: Center of Military History, reprinted1993). A more detailed account is given by Test, "ThurstonRifles," 51-52.

16 Military record of Wallace Cadet Taylor's service with the 1stNebraska Volunteer Infantry, NARA.

17 Ibid.; Eager, "History of the Operations," 50,92.

18 Johnson, "Saga of the First Nebraska," 139-162; Thiessen,"The Fighting First Nebraska," 255.

19 Special Orders No. 113, Headquarters Department of thePacific and Eighth Army Corps, Manila, Apr. 26,1899, inAppointments, Commissions, and Promotions file of WallaceCadet Taylor, NARA, AGO Document File 239,704, Records ofthe Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94.

20 Wallace Cadet Taylor to the recorder of the examiningboard, Manila, May 24, 1899, in Appointments, Commissions,and Promotions file of Wallace Cadet Taylor, NARA, AGODocument File 239,704. Eager ("Historyof the Operations," 50)incorrectly states that President McKinley appointed Taylor asecond lieutenant in the army in May 1899.

21 Linn, Philippine War, 89-90, 114.

22 Graham A.Cosmas,"Military Reform Afterthe Spanish-American War:The ArmyReorganization Fightof 1898-1899,"MilitaryAffairs25 (Feb., 1971).

'a The newlyauthorized unitswere the 26th through the 49thU.S. Volunteer Infantry regiments and the 11th U.S. VolunteerCavalry. The cavalry regiment, the 36th, and the 37th U.S.Volunteer Infantryregiments were raised in the Philippines, theothers in the United States. Two regiments, the 48th and 49th,were comprised of African-American enlisted men andcompany-grade officers (Linn, Philippine War, 125; Reed,"Burden and Honor," 35-36).

24 Allan R. Millet, 77je General: Robert L. Bullard andOfRcership inthe United StatesArmy 1881-1925(Westport,Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1975), 112.

25 Edward M. Coffman, The Regulars: The American Army1898-1941 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,2004),52; Linn, Philippine War, 126.

26 Houseof Representatives, Document No.2,56th Congress,1stSession, Annual Reports of the War Department for theFiscal Year Ended June 30, 1899, Vol. 1,Part 2, Reports of Chiefsof Bureaus, U.S. Serial 3900 (Washington, D.C: GPO), 67.Seealso Reed, "Burden and Honor, "37.

27 Linn, Philippine War, 125.

28 Reed, Burden and Honor, 35; Linn, Philippine War, 126.

29 The RegularArmy of 1899 had been decimated by diseaseand casualties during the Spanish-American War and wasseriously under strength. It had to absorb large numbers of newrecruits, estimated at 60 to 80 percent of each company, whorequired training. Manycompany-grade officers of the RegularArmy in 1899and 1900were relatively inexperienced and therewas a shortage of officers due to disease, casualties, discharges.

SPRING 2006 • 41

and resignations. As a result, many Regular regiments wereunder officered when they were sent to the Philippines (Reed,'"Burden and Honor,"47-49).

30 Millett, The General, 117.

"Ibid., 117-118.

32 Ibid., 115.

" Official Register of Officers of Volunteers in the Service ofthe United States, Adjutant General's Office, War Department.Document No. 117,June 1, 1900. In general, the quality of thenew Volunteer force exceeded that of the Regular Army, Reed("Burden and Honor," 14-15) asserts that establishment of theU.S. Volunteers in 1899 created a force "of superior tactical skilland discipline. The Volunteers were a unique hybrid of regularand militia characteristics, with strong leadership at all levels. Amajority of their enlisted soldiers and all their junior officershad previous military experience, while their senior commanders were ambitious regulars of proven ability. In contrast, mostRegular regiments sent to the Philippines in 1899-1900 hadsuffered serious combat and disease losses in Cuba, and as a

result were under officered and manned by large numbers ofraw recruits...The Volunteers, not the Regulars, were thus thenation's primary land combat force during their two year existence, as revealed by their proportionately higher combat anddisease casualties." He goes on to point out that, "AlthoughVolunteers comprised half the infantry force in the islands theysuffered 63% of all gunshot and 88% of all edged weapon deathsduring 1900, and a large majority of malarial and intestinaldisease casualties" (Ibid., 22 nl, nl76).

11 Military record of Wallace Cadet Taylor's service with the39th U.S. Volunteer Infantry, NARA, Records of the AdjutantGeneral's Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 91.

35 Ibid.

36 U.S. House of Representatives, Report No.857, "Extra Pay toCertain Officers and Enlisted Men," 57th Congress, 1st Session,Mar, 11, 1902, Table D, U.S. Serial 4402 (Washington. D.C: GPO.1902).

t: Information about these individuals is summarized in

Millett, The General, 116-117. More detailed biographicalinformation available on some of them is indicated in

subsequent notes.

38 Millett, The General; Holger H. Herwig and Neil M. Heyman,Biographical Dictionary of World War I (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982), 101-102;Anne Cipriano Verizon, ed., TheUnitedStates in the First World War: An Encyclopedia (N.Y.:Garland Publishing. 1995). 110-111.

39 David A, Lockmiller, "Enoch H. Crowder: Soldier, Lawyerand Statesman," University of Missouri Studies27 (1955);Venzon, ed.. Encyclopedia. 181-183.

4,1 AnnualReports of the War Department forthe Year EndedJune 30, 1900, "Report of the Lieutenant-General CommandingtheArmy." Part3, p. 541,Serial4074, House of RepresentativesDocument No. 2, 56th Congress, 2nd Session (Washington,D..C: GPO, 1900).

" Linn, Philippine War, 162.

12 Ibid., 164; Millett. The General. 125-127; James Parker.77;e OldArmy: Memories, 1872-1918 (Mechanicsburg, Pa.:Stackpole Books,2003),240-244. Lieutenant Colonel Parker,who was assigned to the detachment of the 21st U.S. Infantrythat garrisoned Calamba, described the conditions of thebeleaguered garrisonand commented on the ease with whichthe town was relieved by the aggressive Bullard and hisVolunleers: "This [was] to the chagrin of my friends of the 21stInfantry. Theywere mortified that these raw volunteers hadaccomplished what they had vainly waited to do."

42 NEBRASKA history

43 Millett. The General, 125-126: Linn. Philippine War. 161-165;Annual Reports of the WarDepartment for the YearEnded .lime30, 1900, "Report of the Lieutenant-General Commanding theArmy," Part 3, p. 452, House of Representatives, Document No.2. 56th Congress. 2nd Session, U.S.Serial 407 I (Washington,D.C: GPO. 1900).

11 The action at San Diego Hill was described in "Report ofBrig. Gen. Theodore Schwan, U.S.V., commanding expedition,"in Annual Reports of the WarDepartment for the YearEndedJune 30, 1900, "Report of the Lieutenant-General Commandingthe Army,"Part 3, p. 401.1 louse of Representatives DocumentNo. 2, 56th Congress, 2nd Session, U.S. Serial 4074 (Washington,D.C: GPO. 1900). General Schwan called Taylor's action "markedly gallant." A regimental history written by veterans of the:39th(Arthur W. Orton, Fred D. Shadell, and C. Duffy Lewis,History of the 39th U.S. Vol. Inf. ("Ballard's Indians") (39th U.S.Volunteer Infantry Association, n.p., 1949), 6. 35) states thatTaylor was accompanied by only a "couple" or three men. Seealso Correspondence Relating to the War with Spain 2: 1138—1139.

ir' Major George T. Langhorne. in whose battalion Taylorserved, described the "capture" of Majayjay in "Report of Maj.G.T. Langhorne, Thirty-ninth Infantry," in Annual Reportsof theWar Department for the Year Ended June 30, 1900, "Report of theLieutenant-General Commanding the Army,"Part 3, pp. 536-538,House of Representatives. Document No. 2. 56th Congress. 2ndSession. U.S. Serial 4074 (Washington. D.C: GPO. 1900). A moredetailed and personalized, though anonymous, account waspublished in an article entitled "How Captain Taylor. Single-handed. Captured the Town of Majayjay" in the OmahaWorld-Herald, Apr. 14, 1901, Part 3. 17.See also Orton et al.,Histoiy of the 39th, 36: William Thaddeus Sexton. Soldiers inthe Sun: An Adventure in Imperialism (r-"reeport, N.Y.: Books forLibraries Press, reprint 1971), 229-230; and CorrespondenceRelating to the War with Spain 2: 1139.

" Letter from George T, Langhorne to the adjutant of the 39thU.S. Volunteer Infantry, Sept. 5, 1900, in Appointments, Commissions, and Promotions file of Wallace Cadet Taylor, NARA. Seealso Orton et al.. Histoiy of the 39th. 6.

17 Robert I.. Bullard to a friend in Omaha, Omaha World-Herald, Apr. 14. 1901. Part 3. 17.

18 Millett. The General. 137-138: Glenn Anthony May. Battle forBatangas:A Philippine Province at War (New Haven, Conn.:Yale University Press, 1991).

19 John M.Gates. Schoolbooks and Krags: The UnitedStatesArmy in thePhilippines. 1899-1902 (Westport,Conn.:Greenwood Press, 1973); Linn, Philippine War, 203; Brian McAllisterLinn, Guardiansof Empire: The U.S. Armyand the Pacific,1902-1940 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.1997), 12-13. Millett (The General, 143) reports that the 39thestablished 63 schools during the summer of 1900.

50 When the 39th sailed for the United States in March 1901, itwas comprised of 27 officers and 668 enlisted men, in contrastto its original complement of 50 officers and 1,284 enlisted men(Correspondence Relating to the War withSpain2: 1128, 1259).

51 Millett. The General. 143-144: Reed, Burden and Honor. 298.

52 U.S. House of Representatives. Report No.857. "Extra Pay toCertain officers and Enlisted Men," Mar. 11, 1902, Table D, 57thCongress, 1stSession, U.S. Serial 4402 (Washington, D.C: GPO.1902). See also Millett, The General. 146-147.

53 Reed. "Burden and Honor," 298; Annual Reports of the WarDepartment for the Year Ended June 30, 1900. Report of theLieutenant-General Commanding the Army, Part 3. pp. 91-99,Serial 4074, House of Representatives. Document No. 2. 56thCongress, 2nd Session (Washington, D.C: GPO. 1900).

"! Military record of Wallace Cadet Taylor's service with the39th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. NARA: Millett. 77i<? General, 138:Orton et al., Histoiy of the 39th, 10.

"'"' U.S. House of Representatives, Report No. 857. "Extra Pay toCertain Officers and Enlisted Men." 57th Congress, 1st Session,Mar. 11. 1902, Table D. U.S. Serial 4402 (Washington. D.C: GPO,1902).

"' Linn (The Philippine War, 123-125) recognizes an "ambiguous legacy" left by the state Volunteers in the Philippines:military success combined with a degree of disciplinary laxity.He asserts that the U.S. Volunteers were, overall, superiorsoldiers (326).

57Reed, "Burden and Honor." 16, 353.

58 Parker, The OldArmy. 299, 369-370.

59 Linn. Philippine War. 326.

60 Reed. "Burden and Honor." 363.

"' E.g., Emory Upton, TheArmiesof Asia and Europe: Embracing Official Reports on the Armies ofJapan, China. India. Persia.Italy. Russia. Austria. Germany. France, and England (N.Y.: D.Appleton, 1878); John K. Mahon, Histoiy of the Militia and theNational Guard (N.Y.: Macmillan. 1983).

'-Cosmas. "Military Reform." 12-18.

"•' Ibid.; Barrie E. Zais, "The Struggle for a 20th Century Army:Investigation and Reform of the United States Army After theSpanish-American War, 1898-1903," Ph.D. diss., Duke University(Durham, N.C, 1981); Jerry Cooper, The Rise of the NationalGuard: The Evolution of the American Militia, 1865-1920(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997).

"' The Constabulary was established by Act No. 175 of (he Philippine Commission, Aug. 8, 1901. Vic Hurley, Jungle Patrol: TheStoryof the Philippine Constalmlaiy (N.Y.: E.P. Dutton, 1938);Harold Hanne Elarth. The Story of the PhilippineConstalmlaiy (Los Angeles: Philippine Constabulary OfficersAssociation. 1949); and George Yarrington Coats. "The PhilippineConstalmlaiy: 1901-1917." Ph.D. diss.. Ohio State University(Columbus, 196S).

65 Hurley,Jungle Patrol, 38; Elarth. Story of the PhilippineConstabulary, 67.

"' Wallace C. Taylor to the Bureau of Pensions. Jan. 6, 1929.Upland, California, in pension application file 2417368, VeteransAdministration. Los Angeles. California.

': Emanuel A. Baja, 77/e Medal for Valor(Manila: Juan FajardoPress, 1933). 87-90; Robert H. Reynolds, Philippine Medals,Monograph No. 12(Glassboro, N.J.:Orders and Medals Societyof America, 1998). 83; William H. Powers, "Philippine ConstabularyMedalof ValorRecipients," 77?e Medal Collector 23 (Nov.1972), 12-13. In a letter written to his family during hisrecuperation from the wound sustained in this action, Taylorprovided details of the engagement: "Westarted out about 5p.m., that day. toward the north, keeping off the trails andtaking the woods. At eleven o'clock, we found ourselvesback of their first outpost, and lost, as far as the second wasconcerned, so we snoozed until daylight. We picked up a manwho quietly steered us around their second outpost, but as wecame back in the trail, intending to cross and come in on themfrom the woods, we stumbled into two of their men. saunteringalong in the woods. That settled it for there was then no hope ofabsolute surprise, so we pushed right ahead to get in on thembefore they could get out their card plate, and take the doormat up.

They came out on the front yard to meet us however, and wesaw each other about the same time. The woods were thick,

and you couldn't see a man fiftyyards away. The instant ourguide spotted one man up the trail he squatted. 1turned halfaround and called to the men behind me to close up, and asthey look their places the ball opened on all sides with consid

erable enthusiasm. Just then some gentleman from the rightsoaked me in the neck, just below the ear. The ball look meunder the jaw, and stirred things up along my cheek, ala snowplow, on the Union Pacific. I went down, and turning to mybugler pointed to the hole. Then I went out and staid so for afew moments. Have a faint recollection of Poggi speaking tome as I came to. For an instant I did'nt [sic] realize what wasup. Fell all o.k., so jumped to my feet and putting my hand tomy neck, seemed to me only a cut across the neck, andalthough bleeding some, as I might expect, we jumped in.charged the beggars, and did not stop until we reached theirbarracks buildings" (Wallace C. Taylor to Herbert Taylor andfamily, Jul. 21, 1905, typed copy by Cadet Taylor in the possession of Kay Taylor Pugh. Dubois, Wyoming). His condition wascomplicated during the night by a fall which resulted in thefracture of a clavicle (Wallace C. Taylor to the Bureau of Pensions. Jan. 6, 1929. Upland. California, in pension applicationfile 2417368. Veterans Administration. Los Angeles, California ).

" Taylor's excellent soldierly qualities and personal couragewere often complimented by his contemporaries in the Philippines. Former Constabulary officer Harold H. Elarth called him"a grand character; a fearless fighting man and leader: the beauideal of every officer" (Storyof the Philippine Constabulary,179). Cary Crockett, another of the Constabulary's legendaryofficers, described Taylor: "Exceedingly handsome man, verywell built, ruddy face, blue eyes, blond hair inclined to curl,hawklike profile, yellowish mustache; utterly fearless. Aboutaverage height; very trim in appearance and always smartlyturned out. He visited my station once in Leyte and we went ona combined pleasure trip and reconnaissance, accompanied bytwo mounted orderlies only. Accidentally, we ran into severalhundred pulajans, well-organized, well-armed and well-equipped. Taylor galloped in on them, firing his pistol and we,of course, had to follow. They were taken by surprise and fledin all directions. We captured six beautiful horses and a brassband of over twenty pieces. Taylor had set his heart on killingthe leader, who wore a fine uniform and carried a big bolowhich looked like it was gold-mounted. I had great difficulty ingetting Taylor back before they found out there were but (ourof us and came back on us" (quoted in Hurley. Jungle Patrol.82-83). John R. White, a fellow Constabulary officer, relatedthat "Panegyrics should be saved for the dead, but I must atleast speak of the impression that the Bayard of the Constabulary made upon me. Our work almost daily provided acid testswhich showed up men in whom there was too much basemetal, so we did not lack brave officers; yet Colonel Taylor wasas conspicuous as a newly-minted five-dollar gold piece in ahandful of old copper cents. Wherever the pulajanes werethickest, wherever the hiking was hardest, wherever the oddswere greatest against the Constabulary, there he was to befound, inspiring by his courage but no less by his courtesy andfine manner of life. No greater praise could be given him thanwas voiced whenever two or three junior officers were gatheredtogether—'Colonel Taylor, he's white all through.'" (John R.White, Bullets and Bolos: Fifteen Years in the Philippine Islands[N.Y.: Century. 1928], 188).Earlier, in a June 19. 1900, Idler toCadet Taylor. Robert Bullard. the commander of the 39th U.S.Volunteers, echoed a similar appraisal: "He [WallaceTaylor]manages to find a fight where many of us do not. I am not likeCaptain Taylor,' said an officer to me a few days since. I amafraid of some things; he is not'" (Omaha World-Herald. Apr. II,1901, Part 3, 17). William H. Taft, who served as the civil governor of the Philippines and later as president of the UnitedStales, knew Wallace Taylor well. In a letter to Cadel Taylordated Feb. 27. 1901. Taft stated: "There is no man in the islands

who has rendered more faithful and brilliant service to the

Government than your son. I don't know how we could getalong without him...There is no braver man who ever wore theuniform of the United States Army than Lieutenant-ColonelTaylor" (Cadet Taylor, book of personal reminiscences. 130).

SPRING 2006 43